Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #101

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

101.) Fagottist
-noun singular

a. A bassoon player.*

[Origin: From Old French or Old Provençal, possibly from Vulgar Latin facus, or from the Greek phakelos meaning "bundle."]

*How ripe this relatively innocuous word seems with regards to its visually suggestive meanings concerning members of the tribe. Perhaps a male player of the “skin flute” could also be referred to thusly. Apparently, the Japanese expression “to play the shakuhachi” (or bamboo flute) is also an a propos euphemism.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #100

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

100.) Orchesis
-noun singular

a.) The art or act of dancing.*

[Origin: From the Greek ὄρχησις (orkhēsis), meaning "dance."]

*One thing that all members of the tribe cannot resist.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #99

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

99.) Tauromachy
-noun singular

a.) The art of bullfighting.*

b.) a bullfight.

[Origin: From the Greek tauromakhia meaning "bull fight."]

*Gruesome, but undoubtedly of interest as one of the most macho sports performed in one of the most dashing uniforms, bullfighting most likely has its origins in the rituals of the bull cults of ancient Mesopotamia and Crete. Of note is that, while the bull is traditionally killed at the end of a fight in Spain, Queen Isabella opposed this aspect of the sport during the 16th century and perhaps as a result the bull is never slain in Portugal.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #98

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

98.) Sweven
-noun singular

a.) A dream or vision.*

[Origin: From Old English swefn (meaning "dream" or "vision."]

*One of many ways members of the tribe like to appear.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #97

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

97.) Umbles
-noun plural

a.) The entrails and coarser parts of a deer.

b.) Edible entrails of any animal.*

[Origin: From Middle English noumbles by way of the Old French nombles, originally from the Latin lumbulus, a diminuative of lumbus, meaning "loin."]

*Eating a humble meal of a deer’s, cow’s, or boar’s heart, liver, and/or other offal in the form of a pastry or pie which may or may not have given rise to the expression “to eat humble-pie” (or to apologize and face humiliation for a serious error) was standard fare for many of the common folk in the Middle Ages.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #96

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

96.) Glabrous
-adjective

a.) Smooth or hairless.*

[Origin: From Latin glaber meaning "smooth."]

*The long-standing preoccupation with smooth bodies, perhaps linked with a rampant youth obsession, should be quite familiar to members of the tribe.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #95

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

95.) Acersecomic
-noun singular

a.) One whose hair has never been cut.*

[Origin: from the Greek akersekomes, meaning "with unshorn hair."]

*Surely many of the legendary wild folk of the woods, known for their excessive shagginess, fall into this category. It was taboo to cut the hair of many early chiefs and kings, so many of them were acersecomics as well.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #94

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

94.) Eburnean
-adjective

a.) Made of or like ivory.*

b.) Ivory-colored.

[Origin: From Latin eburneus meaning "ivory." ]

*The horn of the unicorn, though typically considered to be eburnean (probably due to its association in the Middle Ages with the tusk of the narwhal), was originally described as red, white, and black by Ctesias (the origin of which most likely lies in its significance as an ancient calender symbol).

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #93

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

93.) Knobbler
-noun singular

a.) A hart in its second year.

b.) A young deer.*

[Origin: unknown]

*In contemporary slang this term has come to signify a transvestite prostitute or simply the act of fellatio, and a cob knobbler or knobber is allegedly one who does so poorly.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #92

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

92.) Invination
-noun singular

a.) The inclusion or embodiment of Christ’s blood in sanctified wine.*

[Origin: Past participle of the New Latin invinare from vinum meaning "wine."]

*Cannibalistic hematophagy, a ritual of a much more ancient origin, is present in the Eucharist as Christians drink red wine in response to the words “This is the blood of Christ.” As a result of their belief in transubstantiation, early Christians were persecuted for this act by the Romans. The Romans were highly suspicious of Christian adoptions of abandoned Roman babies and this was suggested as a possible source of the blood.